Nice work if you can get it--for the first hour, anyway

[redbird]

The place that I do office temping for occasionally called late last week, and we arranged for me to go in for a couple of hours' work this afternoon, post-gym. By yesterday, it had grown to an expected full day, but I didn't want to miss another day at the gym, so we agreed on this afternoon and however much of tomorrow is needed.

When I got there, muscles properly exercised and a nice Chinese meal in my stomach, I was greeted by a roll of plastic bags. The task at hand was tearing up large numbers of papers--reports produced in years past, mostly, in many cases for companies that no longer exist--that would have been awkward to run through the shredder, and that they figured didn't need that level of destruction. So I'm sitting there in my jeans, pulling handfuls of paper out of binders and tearing them into 4 or 5 or 6 pieces, and wondering what it says about my civilization that this is what I'm getting paid for.

It started out being fun, a fine way to work out frustration, as Anne suggested, not that I had much of that after a solid session of weight work and a proper lunch. But after a while my hands started getting tired, as did my left shoulder, from tearing and tearing and tearing. The first hour was fun; the second boring; by the end of the third, it hurt. Tomorrow morning I go back and do more normal office miscellany: data entry and envelope stuffing. And if I type slowly because my hands are still not happy, I will be annoyed, as I am annoyed now, but they're paying me by the hour, not by the job.

Gym numbers:

Cardio, 33 minutes, top heart rate 147
Calf machine, 60 pounds, 15; 60 pounds 4+55 pounds, 11 (I thought I remembered a third set, at 55, but there's no record of it here)
Bench press, 60 pounds, 12; 60 pounds, 7+57.5 pounds, 4; 55 pounds, 10
Seated leg curl, 95 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 90 pounds, 15. By the ends of the second and third sets, I wasn't managing to get my legs all the way down/toward me

Tricep pulldown, 50 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 45 pounds, 15
Wrist curl, 35 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 30 pounds, 15

Crunches, 4 sets of 20
Back arches, 2 sets of 17
Lift with physio ball, 2 sets of 17
Yoga tree, 4 sets of {2 on each leg}

Bicep curl, 40 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Lateral raises, 5 pounds per hand, 3 sets of 15
The trainers were showing each other things, much of which involved bouncing a ball off a bench, in the free weight area while I was doing this. I enjoyed listening and watching, though I didn't see anything I could apply.

Seated leg press, 250 pounds, 3 sets of 13
Adjustable row, 100 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 90 pounds, 15

Stretches

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of an old story by Joan Aiken, the title of which escapes me at the moment. It was clearly meant to be science fiction, about weirdly speculative futuristic technology and its influence on ordinary people, written perhaps 40-50 years ago. I think it was about a young woman who worked in an office devoted to burning super-secret documents people brought in to have destroyed. She sat in front of a window, so everyone could see what good work the firm did,writing up receipts to say such-and-such document was destroyed at this time and feeding documents to the flames. Her boss wondered if it would be good for business to put a sign in the window: "Don't worry! She only reads music!" (Of course, she accidentally sees something she shouldn't. Hijinks ensue.)

Totally shallow and off-topic

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

Is that you? in your lj usericon pic? Is that your hair? Because that is boss hair.

moi

Re: Totally shallow and off-topic

[redbird]

Yes, that's me. And I'm glad you like it.

Re: Totally shallow and off-topic

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

O yes, it's lovely.

moi